July 27, TORONTO – The Munk Centre at the University of Toronto will host a conference on History, Memory and Politics in Eastern and Central Europe on Monday, August 23, 2010.
Among the many international panellists at the all day conference, former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and co‐founder of Russian opposition party, Union of Right Forces, Boris Nemtsov will provide the keynote address at 11:30 a.m.
The conference will examine current issues and their link with historical perspectives in Eastern‐Central Europe and Russia through panels composed of international academics, journalists, historians and activists.
“The subject of this conference is extremely topical. The conference offers Canadians the rare opportunity to directly engage with some of the extraordinary individuals who are active in affecting issues and examining historical perspectives in the region ,” says conference organizer and award winning documentary filmmaker, Marcus Kolga.
In addition to Mr. Nemtsov, the conference will feature presentations by Ukraine expert and analyst Taras Kuzio; Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Chairman, Dr. Lee Edwards; renowned Finnish‐Estonian commentator and analyst, Dr. Iivi‐Anna Masso; Russia’s RTVi Washington bureau chief Vladimir Kara‐Murza; award‐winning Finnish‐Estonian historian and filmmaker, Imbi Paju; among others.
The conference begins at 9:30 a.m. on August 23rd at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre. The event is being kindly sponsored by the UofT’s Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies as well as the National Estonian Foundation, The Central and Eastern European Council of Canada, The Black Ribbon Day Foundation and Up North Magazine.
Participation in the conference is open to the public and is free of charge, but interested individuals
should register at the Munk Centre through the following web address as seating is extremely limited:
http://www.munkschool.utoronto...
The conference coincides with Black Ribbon Day, the first annual Canadian day of remembrance for the victims of European communism and Nazism, which was adopted by the Parliament of Canada by a motion introduced by MP Bob Rae and MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj in November 2009.
For more information, panelist bios and schedule please contact: Marcus Kolga, Conference Chair, Markus Hess or Myroslava Oleksiuk, Vice-chairs.
marcuskolga@gmail.com,mjhess2003@yahoo.ca,myroslava@rogers.com
+1 416 833 5553 +1 647 231 0058 +1 416 471 5675
www.blackribbonday.org